1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to traffic systems and, in particular, to optimization of traffic speeds in an intelligent traffic system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vehicle roadway can only support a certain number of traveling vehicles (expressed, for example, in vehicles per unit of roadway length or vehicles passing a fixed point on the roadway per unit of time) before the roadway becomes congested. As congestion increases, spacing between vehicles decreases, leading the drivers of at least some vehicles to reduce the travel speed of their vehicles to below the current average speed for their lane of traffic. In many cases, this reduction in travel speed causes a cascading effect in which even a slight reduction in vehicle travel speed at one point on the roadway causes approaching traffic traveling in the same direction to slow dramatically or come to a complete stop. This cascading effect of speed reduction is referred to as a “traffic pulse” or “traffic wave.”
Traffic pulses lead to inefficiencies, such as excessive braking and acceleration, which increase vehicle wear and reduce vehicle fuel economy. Traffic pulses also undesirably increase the average travel times for vehicles on a roadway.